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NORTON (CBS) – A Taunton woman is recovering at a Rhode Island hospital after crashing her SUV on Interstate 495 in Norton Thursday. Patricia Comperchio might not be alive, if not for some quick-thinking passersby.

When she crashed into the median, her Ford Explorer flipped onto it’s side. A number of people stopped to help. But when they looked inside the SUV, they didn’t see anybody. So they thought the driver might be trapped under the vehicle. So four or five guys started lifting and they managed to get the vehicle back on it’s wheels. Then, they saw her trapped under the passenger-side dashboard.

“We just tried to comfort her,” said Michael Cirincione,”we had the SUV back on it’s wheels, so it was a matter of keeping her calm. She was conscious.”

But Norton fire officials say what the group did was buy precious time that may have made a big difference.

Because the vehicle was on its wheels, we could use the jaws-of-life a lot quicker, ” said Deputy David Myles, “if it had still been on it’s side, it would’ve taken longer. They did a great job.”